Jenmi

Jenmi or janmi is the term used to refer to the landed aristocracy of Kerala who traditionally held their lands as absolute and allodial owners, with such lands known as jenmom or janmam.[1] They formed the landowning nobility as well as the landed gentry of the region in colonial times, and the majority of the estates and feudal properties were owned by this community. They predominantly belonged to the Nambudiri (elite Brahmin priests) and Nair (kings and soldiers) castes, and it was not unusual for an aristocratic family to own up to 20,000 acres (81 km2) of land. Although many smallholders existed within the janmi system, janmam lands were heavily concentrated into a few dozen families, most of them of royal, high Nair, or Nambudiri Brahman rank. The twenty-two families paying 3,000 rupees or more in land revenue to the Crown, for example, held 620,012 acres among them; the Vengalil dynasty alone accounting for 200,000 acres, followed immediately by the Mannarghat and Kavalappara Moopil Nairs, whose respective swaroopams governed 180,000 acres and 155,358 acres.

The Zamorins of Calicut owned at least 60,000 to 90,000 acres of jenmom estate lands, followed by the Raja of Kollengode, who held 82,000 acres, mostly forested, excepting 18,000 acres of farmland, and the Nilambur Thirumalpad, whose swaroopam estates spanned 80,000 acres, and in 1925 yielded some 273,075 rupees in revenue. Koothali Moopil Nair owned at minimum 47,000 acres, and likely vastly more, as that tabulation excluded tens of thousands of acres he directly transferred to his Vengalil daughter and her tharavad during his lifetime, including the entirety of the Changaroth estate - as a wedding gift to match the donation of Kuttiyadi by the groom's father, the Porlathiri Raja, from the Kadathanadu swaroopam.[2] In the next level down, the Kalliat Nambiar owned 36,779 acres, while the Chirakkal Raja owned 32,082 acres (129.83 km2), and the K.T. Moopil Nair, at least 25,000 acres.

The Maharajas of Cochin and Travancore, as wells as many other rulers such as those of Punjar in Travancore and the Paliath Achans of Cochin, were well known for their numerous feudal estates.[3] Temples like the Padmanabhaswamy Temple in Trivandrum (controlled by the Maharaja of Travancore), the Koodalmanikyam Temple (controlled by the Thachudaya Kaimal) and the Guruvayoor Temple of M. R. Ry. were built on lands owned by these feudal aristocrats.


Other major Jenmis included the Kurumathoor Namburidipad (5,615 acres). Sambandham intermarriage among the jenmi families was customary.

Today, however, there are restrictions placed on the amount of land one can own in Kerala.[4][5] A token pension is normally paid to Jenmis who have ceded their lands, but the Government has refused to do so from time to time.[6]

Organised violence against Jenmis

There have been several incidences of violence against Jenmis, influenced by Communists.

Kayyur Incident: Kayyur is a small village in Hosdurg taluk. In 1940, peasants there under the leadership of communists rose against the two local Jenmis, Nambiar of Kalliat and the Nayanar of Karakkatt Edam. Several people were killed in the conflict and four Communist leaders were found guilty and hanged by the government. A fifth instigator was sentenced to life imprisonment and was spared from the death penalty, since he was under the age of criminal liability.[7]

Mattannur Incident: Mattanur witnessed large scale communal riots between the Moplah tenants and their Nair landlords during 1852. The riots started when an armed band of 200 Moplahs entered the house of the local landlord, Kalathil Kesavan Thangal, and massacred his entire family of 18 members. The rioters then decided to eliminate the most powerful Jenmi in the district, Kalliat Anandan Nambiar. However, their plans were somehow leaked and the landlord fled with his family, leaving his nephew Kalliat Kammaran Nambiar to defend the land. Kammaran Nambiar organized a militia of 300 Nair warriors and waited for the rioters. The unsuspecting rioters were ambushed and massacred, and the tenants were forced to abandon their campaign and disband.[8]

Korom Incident: Another historic movement was at Korom village in Payyanur on 12 April 1948. Farmers from Payyanur Farka marched to the rice godown of the landlord, Aalakkat Mavila Kunhambu Nambiar, and took control of it and distributed the rice stored there among them. The Malabar Special Police force arrested the volunteers, including K P Kunhikkannan, the leader of the "Karshaka Sangham", upon the request of the landlord. To protest against these arrests, people marched to the spot where the volunteers were kept under police custody. The police started firing on the procession, and this resulted in the death of a harijan youth named Pokkan, who became the first martyr in Payyanur Farka during the 1948 movement.

See also

References
  1. "Search results for jenmom". Indian Kanoon. Retrieved 9 October 2023.
  2. Modern Kerala: Studies in Social and Agrarian Relations. Mittal Publications. 11 September 1988. ISBN 9788170990949.
  3. See Further Notes on Poonjar Cheiftains Article accessed at http://shodhganga.inflibnet.ac.in/bitstream/10603/72849/14/14_appendix%201.pdf
  4. Agrarian change and economic consequences: land tenures in Kerala, 1850–1960 By T. C. Varghese
  5. India: social structure By Mysore Narasimhachar Srinivas p.15
  6. "Kerala high court asks govt to pay pension to 'jenmis'". The Times of India. 29 June 2013.
  7. "Post-independence India – Google Books". Retrieved 9 October 2023.
  8. Education, Kerala (India) Department of; Menon, A. Sreedhara (9 October 1962). "Kerala District Gazetteers: Cannanore". Superintendent of Government Presses. Retrieved 9 October 2023 – via Google Books.
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